Here in the Gulf of Mexico, we have an abundance of both pelagic and bottom species of fish. One of the most exciting times for us here in the Gulf of Mexico is the announcement of our Red Snapper season, and this year we’re looking at a great summer and fall season for delicious Red Snapper harvesting!
When is the season?
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Federal Red Snapper Season 2024: The federal Red Snapper season for 2024 in the Gulf of Mexico will start on June 1 and end on August 28.
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Florida Red Snapper Season 2024: June 1 – July 31. After the summer season ends, the fishing will reopen in the fall, running every weekend from Labor Day weekend until the end of November (September 1 until November 30).
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Alabama Red Snapper Season 2024: The dates are live – every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday starting May 24, until the quota is met. The entire week of Independence Day (July 1–5) is also open for Red Snapper fishing in Alabama.
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Mississippi Red Snapper Season 2024: This year’s Mississippi Red Snapper season will start on May 24 with no set end date yet.
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Louisiana Red Snapper Season 2024: Louisiana’s 2024 season opened on April 15 in both state and federal waters. It’ll last until the recreational landings reach the state’s annual allocation.
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Texas Red Snapper Season 2024: State waters are open throughout the year.
Note: These seasons apply to private anglers and anglers fishing from licensed for-hire charters fishing in the state waters. The daily bag limit is two fish per person with a 16-inch minimum length. The only exceptions are Texas and Louisiana which both have four fish limits. The minimum length is 15 inches in Texas and 16 inches in Louisiana.
What gear to use?
When targeting Red Snapper Eat My Tackle provides the best rods, reels, and combos that ensure a great day on the water. Our most popular rods for Snapper and bottom fishing would be our conventional 6ft 30-50lb class Grouper Getter rod and for spinning reels, our 15-20lb Snapper Whacker Jigging rod, both provide great action for Live bait and Jigging applications. The reels more commonly used when targeting Snapper are the Ocean tech 7000 Spinning reel along with Eat My Tackle’s 18W and 20W 2-speed jigging reels.
How to target Red Snapper
Red Snappers are typically caught fishing offshore structures such as rock piles, reefs, and wrecks. While they can be found in shallower or deeper depths, Red Snappers are usually most abundant in water depths between 100’ and 150’ and are typically targeted with a fish finder-style rig with either live or dead bait.
Eat My Tackle’s Pro Tips on Snapper Fishing:
Live Bait: Live bait is one of the best options when targeting Red Snapper. Baitfish such as Pinfish, Pigfish, Herring, Cigar minnows, and other bait fish species are often one of the best ways to target Red Snapper. Some species of baitfish can be caught using Sabiki rigs in shallower depths and others can be caught using a baited pinfish trap.
Fish different depths of the water column: Although Red Snapper are known to be around structure, that doesn’t mean that some of the bigger (smarter) snappers are necessarily right on the structure. It can be highly effective to try different depths of baits when fishing structure, incrementally increasing or decreasing the amount you fish off of the bottom. Red Snappers can be known to be feeding at different depths within the water column anywhere from 10’ to 50’ or more off the bottom.
Crank don’t Yank! : When a Red Snapper begins to attack your bait, it can be a very aggressive bite to start. Many freshwater fishermen are used to “ setting the hook” by violently yanking the moment they feel a bite. In the case of Red Snapper fishing, the way you need to react to a bite would be by taking a crank down on the fish once you feel a strong bite. Given Red Snapper are considered a reef fish, it is a requirement to use an inline circle hook when targeting them. Circle hooks are different from traditional fishing hooks in that circle hooks automatically lodge themselves in the fish’s mouth and don’t require a dramatic hook set. Often dramatic hook sets can result in losing the fish altogether.
Our favorite Red Snapper recipe!
SNAPPER FRANCAISE (Serves 4)
2 lbs. Fresh Snapper
4 Eggs
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Pepper
1 Tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 Tbl. Parmigiana Cheese
1 Tbl. Fresh Chopped Parsley
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Stick Butter
3/4 Cup Sauterne Wine
1 Tbl. Lemon Juice
1 Lemon
1 Tsp. Diced Roasted Red Pepper
Preparing the Egg Wash: Mix 4 eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and parsley.
You should be able to see the spice in the egg wash.
Prepare the fish in pieces no more than 1/2” thick. Flour on both sides and place in egg
Wash. Melt butter in a Teflon frying pan on medium heat until hot.* Place the fish in the pan
and cook both sides until golden brown. Add sauterne wine and lemon juice. Reduce
the sauce in the pan by approximately half. Plate fish and garnish with lemon wheels with a dab
of roasted red pepper in the middle of each wheel then sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy!
